


His precious ally

by Mukuro414



Category: The Reprise of The Spear Hero, 盾の勇者の成り上がり - アネコユサギ | Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari | The Rising of the Shield Hero - Aneko Yusagi
Genre: M/M, Reprise canon, Spoilers, night talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29382975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mukuro414/pseuds/Mukuro414
Summary: Naofumi wonders about his future self and how he acted in the previous world, so Motoyasu decides to share his opinion. Set during the 4th time loop (Siltvelt Arc).
Relationships: Iwatani Naofumi/Kitamura Motoyasu
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	His precious ally

Several days had passed since Naofumi was miraculously saved before getting brutally killed. He was now camping out in a forest, resting from his journey to Siltvelt... or at least trying too. Unfortunately he couldn't sleep, not even when surrounded by the fluffy plumage gently offered as a bed by the filolial named Sakura. With nothing better to do he began recalling all the events till now, finding hard to believe what had happened in these last few days: after opening a strange book in the library he usually frequented, he was suddenly transported to a different world.

_A dream come true._

That’s what he thought when he first opened his eyes in the castle. Being an otaku, Naofumi was very familiar with the “isekai” genre: summoned in another word, the hero of the story was generally tasked with the important mission of saving the word, and that was precisely what was being requested.

Not all that glitters is gold though, he was not summoned alone, but together with other 3 guys for a total of 4 heroes. That wasn't a problem per se, if not for the one holding a spear. 

“I’m stuck in a time loop” Claimed the blonde young man. 

_Summoned to another world and caught in a time loop?_

Pretty fishy if you asked Naofumi. True, he got some information about their original world right, but he could have just guessed. Well, for all that Naofumi cared about, the spear hero could believe whatever he wanted, the issue was he was causing a commotion. Apparently in a previous timeline, Father (that’s how Naofumi was being referred to), was caught in a conspiracy organized by the king of Melromarc and his daughter and had to experience lots of hardship. To shut him up, said king and princess suggested transferring the Shield Hero to another country, Siltvelt, where he could be warmly welcomed. A reasonable offer all things considered, it’s not like Naofumi had to fight just for this country and most importantly he could get away from that spear guy who seemed strangely obsessed with him. 

_But that was a trap._

The carriage he got in was certainly not directed to Siltvelt, but was leading to his death. As a man with an oddly shaped sword was approaching him, more than scared for his own life, he was absolutely furious: first they summoned him here pretending to save the world and now they were going to kill him? And for what reason exactly?

“Unforgivable…” he muttered. 

Not that Naofumi could do much, even if his defense was abnormally high, there was no way he could stop the assassination, he was only lv.1 after all.

“Thunder Spear!!”

The sound of sparks filled the air, a spear appeared out of nowhere killing one of the men that was pinning him down. Someone was running at full speed towards the carriage, Naofumi easily recognised that silhouette, it was the same guy he thought was quite suspicious: the spear hero, Motoyasu Kitamura. 

The raven haired boy was shocked, he treated the guy coldly yet here he was, dashing at his side. 

_Never judge a book by its cover._

Having learned his lesson, Naofumi decided to put his trust in Motoyasu, gaining his very first ally in this parallel world. Soon enough other people (and filolials) joined his party, helping fending off the numerous assassination attemps. It seemed like this timeline too was full of hardship.

“Ahh…” he let out an annoyed sigh.

All this thinking had the opposite effect, he was feeling wide awake now. Remembering all the difficulties he had encountered, Naofumi wondered how he was even able to survive in the first timeline _._ Unlike now, the Spear Hero was not by his side, with no one to rely on, he only had himself and that damned shield. He heard various stories of his past self from the time traveller himself, how he would use slaves or exploit bands of thieves. The Shield Hero of those tales sounded more like a villain than a hero, however it wasn’t too far fetched. While Naofumi considered himself to be a friendly and positive guy, someone who rarely got angry, he could hold his grudges, especially when falsely accused. If people believed he was a bad person then he would become one even if just out of spite. That being said, it was still a surprise to learn how twisted his personality had gotten. 

Lost in thought, Naofumi failed to notice the sound of steps getting closer: it was Motoyasu. 

“Father, you seem troubled.” Motoyasu noticed. 

He was returning from watching duty with nothing exciting to report.

“Ah, good job Motoyasu.” Naofumi greeted. 

He was surprised to see the taller man there so soon. From his point of view, Motoyasu had gone away for a few minutes at best, except two hours had passed. 

“I was just thinking about my “other self”, the Father of your original world.” He continued.

“I see, I see, so you are curious about your future self, I say!”

Motoyasu was searching for a place to lay down. Like Father-in-law, he too wanted to cuddle with his beloved filolials, but since Yuki and Kou were already sleeping, he opted to just sit nearby. Apparently the two had fallen asleep hugging each other. Overwhelmed by all this cuteness, tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Want me to talk about him?” The blonde asked, quickly wiping his tears off. He was always happy to share more stories about Father.

“Sure, why not?” 

Naofumi couldn't sleep anyway, so why not indulge in his curiosity? 

“From what I gathered, I was a real villain more than a he-.” His words were abruptly cut short.

“That’s not true!! Father has always been full of kindness, I say!” Motoyasu instantly rejected the idea that Father could be anything other than a benevolent god. 

“Even when we were antagonising Father, you did everything in your power to protect us!” 

He could still remember clear as day all the times the Shield Hero had saved him. The battle against the pope of the church of the three heroes was one of such occasions. Father protected him and the pigs in his party against the powerful ritual magic “Judgment” even when moments before he was badmouthing him. The image of Father’s back was firmly engraved in his memory: his cape fluttering in the wind, loyal companions by his side, an unreachable figure, a standard he could only dream of. 

“Earth to Motoyasu, ohyyy...” Naofumi tapped the other hero's shoulder, trying to regain his attention. 

He already knew Motoyasu had the tendency to wander off in his own little world.

“Yes, what is it Father?” He finally snapped back.

“Well, was I really that strong?”

“Yes, you were the strongest, I say!”

“Umh..”

Naofumi suspiciously stared at the blondie. Not that he didn't trust Motoyasu’s words, but strongest was probably an overstatement, he tended to exaggerate things, especially when talking about the previous Shield Hero.

“Back on topic, you said I was a kind person, but didn't I use slaves and work them to the bone? That doesn't seem really hero like.” 

Full of regret, Motoyasu averted his eyes. In the game he played, the Shielder was a support only class that had trouble dealing damage even to the weakest of enemies, it required a full team to truly shine, a possibility that had been denied to him from the very beginning. In a country where the Shield Hero was regarded as the devil incarnate, no one would openly support him. In desperate need of an ally, Father had to make the painful choice of employing slaves. If only he believed him that one time...

“It’s true that you were more ruthless in the previous world, you had trouble trusting anyone unless they were a slave, but… Father treated everyone with respect and all your slaves were happy to work for you! Yes, you were like a real father to them, I say!”

“Ruthless yet kind at heart umm…. Wait… Don’t tell me...”

Naofumi came to a sudden realization. 

“I was a tsundere!?”

“A what?”

“Don’t worry about it, pretend I said nothing...”

*Ahem* 

Clearing his throat, Naofumi tried to brush off this unnecessary insight. Luckily Motoyasu wasn’t particularly familiar with the otaku world and its terminology since he was a normie before, but the last thing the younger boy wanted was the other thinking the shield hero was a tsundere. It could have terrible consequences if Motoyasu found a way to return to his original timeline. 

“What about bandits? You told me that I used to take advantage of them too.” Naofumi quickly changed the subject.

“This is just something I heard, apparently you would beat them into submission until they begged for their life! Then you would exchange their life for money.” 

_Being threatened by Father and Filo-tan doesn't sound so bad._

Motoyasu started to fantasize. 

“....”

“Considering even life itself as a bargain chip, Father was so resourceful, I say!”

The hero of the spear seemed so proud of his Father-in-law’s actions, but this Naofumi was hardly happy about that. Nonetheless, he understood the thought process, being left penniless, that was indeed a great way to easily make money.

“I think I get the gist of it.”

In order to survive that Naofumi adopted a more practical way of thinking. But he was a slightly different person now. 

“You really looked up to the previous me uh?”

“That goes without saying!”

“Then, what about the me right now? What do you think?” He asked, interested in the opinion of the man who was so fond of him.

“Let’s see… When I saw you again, the first thing that caught my eyes was your face, you looked more cheerful than I remembered, you also sounded more relaxed. I’m not one to talk but, I thought you looked a bit naive.”

“Naive eh..?”

It was Naofumi's turn to look down dejected. He couldn’t even debunk that statement, he must have looked truly gullible from an outsider perspective. He was so eager to explore and have fun in this unknown world like he did in the many MMOs he played before….

Seeing Father so gloomy, Motoyasu tried to explain better what he intended, he would never dare to insult him after all.

“I didn't mean it in a bad way!! It just shows how innocent and full of hope you were in the beginning. In the past you always looked annoyed and ready to lash out, it really saddened me. It’s thanks to Father and Filo-tan that I came to love this world, so I wanted you to enjoy it too! When I looped back, I knew the time to repay the kindness you showed me had finally arrived!” 

His words were full of gratitude.

“Yes, seeing how brightly Father can now smile makes me cry tears of joy, I say!” He added.

_Especially because in the original timeline, Father would never smile at me like that._

He decided to keep this particular thought to himself, scared that Father would then feel conscious about smiling around him. 

*Ploof*

Meanwhile Naofumi was burying his face into Sakura pink plumage, wanting to hide his embarrassment.

_How can this man say such embarrassing things?? Is this the power of a gal game protagonist?_

_“_ Father???” Motoyasu cried worriedly.

He completely misunderstood the situation, thinking his previous statement had made Father angry. He cursed his stupidity and inability to express himself. 

“It wasn’t my intention to insult you, I say!” The Spear Hero was begging for forgiveness.

“Don’t worry, I know you wouldn't.” Having calmed down, Naofumi finally lifted his head.

“Ah!” the blonde exclaimed.

Wanting to redeem himself, Motoyasu was ready to share one of his many brilliant ideas. Naofumi had a bad feeling about that.

“How about this? Sometimes you should try to talk in a more abusive way, I say!”

As expected, that was absolutely nonsense. It was because of remarks like this that the raven haired boy began to suspect that Motoyasu was a bit of a masochist. 

“No.” That suggestion was promptly shut down.

They continued their chat for a bit after that, but it was mostly Motoyasu trying to change Naofumi speech pattern to a more insulting one. If Naofumi wasn’t careful enough he would really start to speak like a tsundere, baka and all.

*Yawn*

Talking to Motoyasu always felt like an ordeal, it sure was tiring. He felt like he could actually fall asleep now. But before that, Naofumi wanted to ask just one last thing:

“Which one of us do you prefer?”

The hero of the shield genuinely wanted to know. Motoyasu was a loyal companion that would never betray him, that's why he couldn't help but wonder which Naofumi he preferred….. As his boss obviously! 

Still, he already had an idea of what the answer could be.

“Ummmmm..”

Motoyasu was left speechless, what a difficult question that was. Arms crossed, he tilted his head and started thinking. As he already explained, the Father in front of him was different from the one he remembered, that was the result of his intervention early on in the story. This Father had a more gentle look in eyes and would rarely glare at him, not that he minded of course, it was quite a nice sensation in its own right. Their core personality was still the same, both were pure hearted and extremely insightful, it was not an understatement to say that without Father’s guidance, Motoyasu would feel completely lost. 

_No wonder such a man raised Filo-tan!_

While he was more accustomed to previous Father’s antics, seeing such an innocent one was like a breath of fresh air. No matter how much he thought about it, in the end the answer could only be one:

“Father is always Father, I say!” He affirmed with resolve. 

_Exactly._

Naofumi chuckled. Just as expected, that was an answer only a simpleton like Motoyasu could come up with. Nonetheless, those were the words he wanted to hear the most.

“No matter the world, time, space... Anything! I will always be by your side, I say!” Motoyasu sincerely professed.

“Yeah, I know.” Naofumi gently nodded in response. 

That was not a promise, it was just the natural state of their relationship. Even if this world were to reset, it would be alright, because Naofumi knew he would never be alone, his precious ally would never leave his side.

**Author's Note:**

> One day I woke up and I realised MotoFumi had become one of my OTPs. Now everyday I ask myself if I am finally out of this rabbit hole and the answer is alway no… I feel so cursed….. I think I may need help...  
> Anyway, let’s talk about the fic! In a world where Naofumi never knew Raphtalia, the first person who ever believed him was the time traveller Motoyasu. As he was thankful to gain such a loyal ally in Raphtalia, he would probably feel the same about Motoyasu in the world portrayed in Reprise.  
> In this fic I wanted to convey this feeling of implicit trust. I re-read the source material so many times, I really hope they don't sound too OOC.  
> I would like to thank my proofreader, the ending line sounds a bit spicier than originally intended xD.  
> Thank you for reading until the end!


End file.
